News24.com | EU addresses Morocco-Spain migration with funds

Spain‘s foreign minister says the European Union‘s executive branch has allocated 55 million euros to manage an upsurge of migrant arrivals, mostly from Morocco.

Josep Borrell says that at least half of the funds will be used to “alleviate the current circumstances in Morocco,” where an increase of boat departures has put the strain on authorities across the Strait of Gibraltar.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says the EU has given the North African kingdom more than 100 million euros to tackle migration over the past decade.

In a letter published on Wednesday on Twitter, Juncker told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that the EU was “ready to increase its contribution,” but member countries need to feed a common fiduciary fund for Africa.

With nearly 23 000 arrivals recorded so far, Spain has become the main entry point into Europe this year for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea by boat.